BATESVILLE – June 30, 2014 – Citizens Bank today released the schedule for Friday’s “Celebrate America” activities in Riverside Park in Batesville. For the best viewing, this year’s fireworks will be launched from Kennedy Park, which is directly across the river from Riverside Park, a change that means the parking lot in Kennedy Park must be closed on Friday.

An alternate parking area will be provided for trucks with boat trailers, including a shuttle to transport boaters to and from the parking area. The two boat ramps will be open all day; however, one of the ramps will be closed at 8:30 p.m. Open access to the sandbar will continue all day until just before the fireworks, which are scheduled for 9:15 p.m.

The day-long Fourth of July celebration in Riverside Park includes food and craft vendors, bounce houses and other children’s activities, such as face-painting and balloon animals.

The evening’s events begin at 7 p.m. with a “Patriotic Salute,” including a presentation by a Color Guard from Bravo Company 2-153 Infantry in Batesville. The National Anthem will be sung by Megan Watson, an Assistant Retail Manager at Citizens Bank’s Eagle Mountain Branch, who has performed the anthem at numerous public events.

A concert by “Everyday Life,” the energetic and popular band that appeared at last year’s event, will follow the National Anthem. An intermission will feature a performance by members of the North Arkansas Dance Theater, based out of the NADT Dance Academy in Batesville.

At 8:45 p.m., Citizens Bank will conduct the live drawings for the winners of a new car, truck or sport-utility vehicle; an Intimidator UTV; and a Bad Boy mower. The Grand Prize winner will select the vehicle of their choice from a selection provided by the Wood Family of Dealerships. The winning entry forms will be drawn by Miss Batesville Rachel Roebuck and Petite Miss Batesville Ella Clark.

The “Celebrate America” car giveaway contest attracted more than 12,000 entries, which were submitted at bank branches in Batesville, Cave City, Imboden, Mountain View and Pleasant Plains. Bank customers received 10 contest entries for each personal account they have with the bank.

This is the 17th consecutive year that Citizens Bank has hosted the “Celebrate America” event in Riverside Park. The bank also acknowledges and thanks its co-sponsors for making the event possible, including:

Citizens Bank of Batesville was established in 1953 by a group of local businessmen who shared a vision of creating a bank that would be committed to serving the working people of Batesville and Independence County. Today, Citizens Bank is Independence County’s largest financial institution by market share, and has expanded its service area to include Lawrence, Randolph, Sharp and Stone counties. The bank operates 10 fully staffed financial centers in Batesville, Cave City, Imboden, Mountain View and Pleasant Plains.